Gaddafi warned Blair of rise of radical Islam, Euro invasion, recordings reveal

0
146

Back in 2011, Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi had warned former British prime minister Tony Blair that Europe would be hit with terror attacks if he was removed from power, newly released phone transcripts revealed Thursday.

“[Jihadists] want to control the Mediterranean and then they will attack Europe,” Gaddafi told Blair, according to British media.

A British foreign affairs committee investigating the Gaddafi ouster released the transcripts of two phone calls to Blair, both of which reportedly took place on February 25, 2011. Gaddafi fled the Libyan capital city of Tripoli that summer, and rebels killed him in October.

In the first call in the morning, Gaddafi informed Blair about the al Qaeda terrorist cells in North Africa. “The story is simply this: an organisation has laid down sleeping cells in North Africa. Called the al Qaeda Organisation in North Africa… The sleeping cells in Libya are similar to dormant cells in America before 9/11,” The Telegraph reported.

During the second call, a few hours later, he added, “I will have to arm the people and get ready for a fight. Libyan people will die, damage will be on the Med[iterranean], Europe and the whole world. These armed groups are using the [crumbling Libyan regime] as a justification – and we shall fight them,” according to The Guardian.

Hope for Libya:

Blair had responded, “I would like to offer a way out that is peaceful… keep the lines open.”

However, later that year, photos and video clearly showed rebels had shot the dictator in the head. According to analysts, al Qaeda splinter groups did take over territory in Libya after the ruler’s death. Soon after, militants in Iraq and Syria merged to form what is known as the Islamic State terror group since 2013, eventually capturing land in North Africa as well.

“The failure to follow Mr Blair’s calls to ‘keep the lines open’ and for these early conversations to initiate any peaceful compromise continue to reverberate,” Foreign Select Committee chair Crispin Blunt said, according to The Guardian.